Does your stomach flip whenever you realize a dental appointment is coming up? No matter your level of dental anxiety, there are ways to alleviate its effects on your dental attitude. Daily life is stressful enough without the thought of dental treatment heightening your nerves. With the aid of dental anesthesia, dental sedation, research, and dentist-patient communication, you can feel entirely at ease in the dental chair. Sound too good to be true? Read on for some tips.

Choosing Dental Sedation in Schenectady

Understanding sedation will help you gain awareness of why it’s so effective, and whether it’s the right choice. Let’s start with the basics: sedation vs. anesthesia. It’s likely that you’ve received dental anesthesia in the past, even if you’ve never had sedation. Anesthesia is administered to every patient who has the chance of experiencing discomfort during treatment. It blocks nerve communication to completely numb the treatment site (the teeth and gums that could feel twinges during treatment).

Dental sedation doesn’t numb you, and actually isn’t a painkiller at all. What sedation concerns itself with is your state of anxiety. Sedatives act as calming sources that slow your responses slightly, and ease your nerves. If you receive sedation for a potentially uncomfortable procedure, we will likely still administer local anesthesia to make sure that you don’t experience any pain.

Sedation and anesthesia offered at Dr. Robert Scotto’s office include:

Nitrous oxide (sedation) – Nitrous oxide is a gas that patients inhale for the duration of treatment. Nitrous causes a euphoric effect, and leaves patients completely relaxed in the dental chair. It is easily controlled, and the effects will wear off soon after the appointment. When receiving sedation, it’s necessary that you arrange transportation to and from the office, as it won’t be safe for you to drive. Let us know prior to your procedure if you’re interested in nitrous.

Oral conscious sedation - This anti-anxiety medication is taken in the form of a pill. It is usually Valium or a similar medication, and is prescribed prior to your appointment. You'll take it 1-2 hours before treatment so that you're relaxed by the time you're in the office.

Topical anesthesia – This is a mild numbing agent that is applied directly to your skin. Topical anesthesia is often used at the location where shots of local anesthesia will be injected, so that you don’t feel those pinches.

Local anesthesia – This type of anesthesia is delivered as injections. Dr. Scotto will place them at the most effective and appropriate spots to numb the necessary teeth and gums. Once you have received proper anesthesia, you won’t feel anything during treatment. Your mouth will remain numb for a brief period post-treatment; be careful eating and drinking so that you don’t bite your tongue or cheeks.

Learning About Your Dental Treatment to Feel Comfortable in the Dental Chair

Being prepared extends to every area of life – even dental care. By researching your upcoming procedure before the big day, you’ll be ready for what comes. The unknown is often scarier than reality, and you may be surprised by the simplicity of the treatment once you learn more. The American Dental Association and Colgate have patient resource pages that detail steps of common treatments. Peruse these sites to learn more about what’s facing you.

Voicing Your Concerns to Ease Dental Anxiety

A source of information that’s even richer than the Internet is your dentist himself. If you have questions or concerns, Dr. Robert Scotto and our staff will be happy to listen. We value our patient relationships, and hope to play a role in helping you feel safe, comfortable, and calm in the dental chair. We’ll be able to discuss the specific steps of treatment, and will help you follow along so that you’re aware of what’s happening. This helps patients see dental treatment for what it is, rather than mentally inflating it to create something overwhelming or scary.